- test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org - classiccmp.org

by sales＠elecplus.com

Does anybody know anything about this machine? Not even a keyboard or monitor port on it! Pics are here: https://plus.google.com/photos/106111250846948401252/albums/5864544551344799 681?banner=pwa _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3272 / Virus Database: 3162/6232 - Release Date: 04/08/13

13 years, 2 months

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OT: 1000 year DVD storage

by cclist＠sydex.com

The M-Disc claims 1,000 year permanency. http://www.mdisc.com/ Anyone have experience with these? --Chuck (wondering if we'll be able to find a 1,000 year old DVD player)

13 years, 2 months

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Qbus PDP-11s (was Re: 11/53, was Re: Hardware vs Simh)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 5:07 PM, Cory Smelosky <b4 at gewt.net> wrote: > Now I want to start a discussion on the timeline of when memory became?"onboard"/integrated for some reason?I'm curious as to who tried it first. ;) The KD11-F (M7264) had memory and the CPU on one board, in 1975, IIRC. -ethan

13 years, 2 months

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Available S-100 PCBs

by LYNCHAJ＠YAHOO.COM

Hi, sorry had to update the quantities with accurate numbers Good news! There are several new and reordered S-100 PCBs available! The S-100 68K CPU boards finally came in so there are about 17 available. There are 35 of the S-100 IDE V2 reorder PCBs and about 19 of the new S-100 bus terminator/prototyping board PCBs. There are seven (7) of the S-100 LAVA PCBs available and two (2) of the S-100 regular prototyping board PCBs available. http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/68000%20Board/68K%20CPU%20Board .htm http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/IDE%20Board/My%20IDE%20Card.htm http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=S-100%20bus%20t erminator http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/Lava-10%20Board/LAVA-10%20Board .htm http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=S-100%20regular %20prototyping%20board The S-100 PCBs cost the same as before ($20 each). However due to unforeseen extreme price increases in shipping by USPS I am forced to change shipping costs. Shipping in the US will be $3 for a single PCB and $2 for each additional PCB. Shipping internationally will be $10 for a single PCB and $3 for each additional PCB. This is for the bare basics USPS first class postage with no tracking or insurance. The builder assumes all risk of delivery as per usual arrangement. I apologize for the large price increase on shipping but this is out of my hands. The USPS is in dire financial trouble and is raising prices on shipping. It affects us all and is most unfortunate. These boards are provided "at cost" so there is no margin to absorb any shipping price increases. I have to pass them along. If you would like one or more S-100 PCBs please send a PayPal to LYNCHAJ at YAHOO.COM Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch PS, if you would like to help out this all-volunteer project please get one or more of the S-100 LAVA PCBs. Also the S-100 regular prototyping board PCBs. These PCBs are the oldest ones and them sitting around on a shelf does no one any good. I'd like these to go to a hobbyist who would get some enjoyment from these fun to build and use boards. Thanks in advance.

13 years, 2 months

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PDP 8 components file for spice

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

At the flip chip level it would include definitions for DEC3639B (aka 2N3639), D662 (aka 1N645) and D664 (aka 1N3606). Pretty standard stuff to read the datasheets and make SPICE models. A real design (or redesign) would pay extensive attention to margining just like the original designers did. SPICE can help verify to an extent, but all the details you actually need for design of RTL/DTL/flip-flop are in the 60's TI transistor design books.

13 years, 2 months

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Available S-100 PCBs

by LYNCHAJ＠YAHOO.COM

Hi Good news! There are several new and reordered S-100 PCBs available! The S-100 68K CPU boards finally came in so there are about 27 available. There are 40 of the S-100 IDE V2 reorder PCBs and about 30 of the new S-100 bus terminator/prototyping board PCBs. There are seven (7) of the S-100 LAVA PCBs available and two (2) of the S-100 regular prototyping board PCBs available. http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/68000%20Board/68K%20CPU%20Board .htm http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/IDE%20Board/My%20IDE%20Card.htm http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=S-100%20bus%20t erminator http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/Lava-10%20Board/LAVA-10%20Board .htm http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=S-100%20regular %20prototyping%20board The S-100 PCBs cost the same as before ($20 each). However due to unforeseen extreme price increases in shipping by USPS I am forced to change shipping costs. Shipping in the US will be $3 for a single PCB and $2 for each additional PCB. Shipping internationally will be $10 for a single PCB and $3 for each additional PCB. This is for the bare basics USPS first class postage with no tracking or insurance. The builder assumes all risk of delivery as per usual arrangement. I apologize for the large price increase on shipping but this is out of my hands. The USPS is in dire financial trouble and is raising prices on shipping. It affects us all and is most unfortunate. These boards are provided "at cost" so there is no margin to absorb any shipping price increases. I have to pass them along. If you would like one or more S-100 PCBs please send a PayPal to LYNCHAJ at YAHOO.COM Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch PS, if you would like to help out this all-volunteer project please get one or more of the S-100 LAVA PCBs. Also the S-100 regular prototyping board PCBs. These PCBs are the oldest ones and them sitting around on a shelf does no one any good. I'd like these to go to a hobbyist who would get some enjoyment from these fun to build and use boards. Thanks in advance.

13 years, 2 months

1
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OMNI Collection in Archive.org

by spedraja＠ono.com

For all those interested in Science Fiction and Science, this little gift: https://archive.org/details/omni-magazine Regards SPc.

13 years, 2 months

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Houston Computer Museum

by sales＠elecplus.com

http://www.houstoncomputermuseum.org/index.html This one is kind of strange, worded oddly for American company, no address or phone number. Is anyone familiar with this museum? Cindy Croxton _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3272 / Virus Database: 3162/6237 - Release Date: 04/10/13

13 years, 2 months

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Selling my PDP8/e

by mardy＠pernetics.com

Please pardon the self serving post, but I thought that it would be of interest to this group. I've decided to sell my PDP8/e. I just don't have the time to devote to restoring it. The eBay listing is here: DEC PDP8/e Minicomputer If anybody has any questions about it, let me know. Thanks, -Mardy

13 years, 2 months

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Thin floppy replacement for DEC Multia

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

I'm trying to get my Multia (did you know that's pronounced "Mull-tea-uh"?*) to netboot. Unfortunately, this means I have to update my SRM firmware. Unfortunately, this means I need my floppy. Unfortunately, my floppy makes a nasty noise. This is an unconventionally thin drive with a very thin ribbon cable. Does anyone have a spare they'd like to dispose of in my direction? * So says the audio_test routine in the SRM.

13 years, 2 months

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pdp-11/23 config

by Arno_1983＠gmx.de

Jerome H. Fine <jhfinedp3k at compsys.to> wrote: > Please be aware that most (maybe now almost all) RD53 > drives have failed with the head stuck problem. (...) > I would agree to use an RD53 as a scratch drive for > temporary storage, but not for saving files after the > drive is powered down. Which conveniently also is an application for which their capacity is reasonable. One could however hope for the best and use one e.g. as a boot drive, provided I have the contents backed up elsewhere just in case it decides to croak. > I have a number of Micropolis ESDI and Hitachi ESDI > drives which seem to be quite reliable. > (...) since I doubt that using > the internal power supply from the BA123 is helpful. Hmm, as the enclosure supports no less than four full height 5,25" devices, shouldn't the PSU be able to power them as well, or is the 11/83 setup stretching the limits on its own already? > >3x 5MB 14" RL01, > >1x 10MB 14" RL02, > > VERY reasonable for a small RT-11 system And PERIOD at least. > but prone > to hardware problems (especially filters) in the long run. A thorough cleanup and check-out will of course be performed before power is applied. > >(2x 80MB 14" SMD) (I just have a lead on those yet) > > > The ESDI drives are more reliable and faster. ESDI controllers > were also less expensive and more available. Not a problem, I do have a (DILOG IIRC) QBUS SMD controller (but not a SCSI one yet). And I _want_ to run rackmount drives, not microcomputer stuff, with a rackmount system. Not to mention that the CMD Phoenix drives have one removable platter (16MB) in a cartridge, so unlimited offline storage (in case I can manage to get more of those landmines). allison <ajp166 at verizon.net> wrote: > On 04/10/2013 02:25 AM, Arno Kletzander wrote: > > ok, then TU58 emulation is, as I had hoped, going to float the > > boat for me, at least until either more machines or media to > > be read crop up here. > The novelty weill wear off fast as a drive is only 256K, and > its serial line speed and hence sloowwwwwwww... Nevertheless it's a start; it's not like I'm running a production system. I can still upgrade once my patience has been exhausted. > >> Thats plenty of space for PDP-11 OSs. > > Unfortunately I have no sound way to (mechanically) > > _mount_ and power those tiny little 5,25" disks in > > the '11 rack, that's why they're staying in the BA123. > I got a rack shelf and gutted a few PCs for the disk cage. Perhaps not pretty, but a pragmatic solution anyway... I do even have a general purpose rackmount case and PSU for two full-height 5,25" devices after all. (I had not considered it as such, as it is currently occupied by a drive bay mountable SCSI RAID controller and I had originally not realized that they were separate parts.) So this is basically an option to use the RD53s with my RQDX3 on 11/23 as well. How about the STxxx (unshielded) ribbon cables going from one rack drawer to the other, won't those be a problem in terms of length/signal quality)? > >> Likely the bad one has the stuck head problem > >> (...) > > I'd not want to try my luck, I'll work on that one > > once I've got an aquarium type glove box set up. > Suit yourself. I've done them on the kitchen table. > I must ahve done at least 8 of them. > The only failures were not media related (controller > dies on write and blows the track servo). > > Keep in mind they have a filter and the spin-up is > to clear the platters and the dust that lands into > the filter. Good to know they're not that fragile, but every head crash is one too many in my book. They don't make 'em any more, after all. [large drives] > Anything I can lift with one hand is small. > > 1(2)x RD53 5,25" MFM > > 1x 300MB 5,25" ESDI, > Physical large drive: any that want a lift or > two people to install in the rack. > > 3x 5MB 14" RL01, > > 1x 10MB 14" RL02, > > (2x 80MB 14" SMD) (just a lead on those yet) > RL02 was far more reliable and more common. Despite the higher track density in an otherwise pretty much unchanged design? (I got the (common) user's guide with the drives.) What's the story about the "brush cycle" that was later on removed by an ECO anyway? At least one of my drives still has the brush arm installed. > > ?? BBU?? Unless you mean BBS7 (Io tends to use that). > > Battery backup. Feeding it from an alternate 5V source > > to keep RAM content intact when mains power is off. > > Oh, It's been a while, I never use it. No need. If I > need the data preserved I have it on disk and the system > on UPS. Nowadays, of course. Back then UPS usually meant a large noisy expensive MG set with a heavy flywheel accompanied by an air-started diesel genset in the basement (and you probably had chosen a MINIcomputer to avoid all that), so BBU was the next best thing to core to have, when power was not as reliable as your service needed to be. [heat issues] > > A hard "CPU dead" damage without any warning? > (...) > Mine ran usually for months at a time, if the building > AC hadn't failed the cpu baord would still be in there > (it is actually and repaired returned to my spares box). So out of interest, what component(s) actually got fried in the incident? [old-time networking] > PDP-11s were networked before NICs using DDCMP and sync > lines. (...) Of course Unix had UUCP via serial lines > and modems. > After NICS Ether pipe. RT11 does little with it and > its mostly useless for that RSTS and RSX in the later > versions were full fledged nodes (DECnet Phase III). So my idea of it was pretty much correct, by and large. >> (2x 80MB 14" SMD) (I just have a lead on those yet) >> >> > The ESDI drives are more reliable and faster. ESDI controllers > were also less expensive and more available. > [TK50 tape subsystem] > I just can't say enough nice things about TK50. > (set user/mode:sarcasm=off) > > But they were the common transfer media and big for its time. > that and I have a small bin full of Compact Tape I media with > stuff on it. Tk70 was the one to have. jkunz and I had a bunch of (negative) fun with CompacTapes last VCFe, when we tried reading some on a VAXstation IIRC. We had a bunch in which the binder had degraded; they started shedding oxide and/or sticking to the heads, sometimes in a way that even broke the tape. > There is also TLZ04 tape. DAT, usually regarded as a "Write once/read never" medium if I'm not mistaken? David Riley <fraveydank at gmail.com> wrote: > If you manage to find a QBUS SCSI card (...) you can use a Zip drive > for removable storage (...) It's not exactly "classic", > but they are plentiful and cheap and fairly reliable if you stick > with the 100 MB versions. They're also BIG (in storage size) compared > to an RL02, and they're much better about being dropped. :-) Three problems: 1. no free QBUS SCSI cards (as opposed to MFM, ESDI, RL0x and SMD), 2. bad personal track record with ZIP drives (click of death), 3. going more for a period system than for ease of use. > You could always run your -11 from the BA123. It's a bit of > overkill, but you can fit all the disks you want in there and > pretty much never worry about running out of slots for boards. > > Of course, if you're actively using the MVII, don't do that. (shakes head) Totally wrong approach, I'm basically building the 11/23 "just" to populate an empty BA-11S shell that has that designation on it... The VSII is a very nice system all by itself which I got in a period configuration (CPU, 16MB RAM, VCB02 board set, RQDX3) and rounded out accordingly (8-port SLU, DELQA), and as it fits all together so nicely and works (even has the correct "VAXstation II/GPX" case sign too), I'm not changing that. (Neither of those systems is going to see much use anytime soon, much to my own regret...) [system monitoring board] > That's a fun idea. When I'm running my 11/23 in an open backplane, > I make sure I have a decently powerful fan blowing through it and > over the top. Those boards tend to dissipate between 10 and 20 > watts each, which is nothing to sneeze at, and the CPUs can get > quite locally hot. So I probably need two fan airflow sensors (I've seen that done with components that look like glass case small signal diodes - these work by dissipating a small amount of power and measuring the temperature increase from that, so they should detect when either the air flow fails or the ambient air is too hot to begin with, and a few stick-on probes (NTC?) for neuralgic components. Adjustable levels for forewarning and protective cutout; monitoring the DC rails for overvoltage and excessive ripple could be added for completeness. Just needs a breaker contact in line with the front panel switch. > The QBUS LAN cards definitely have more of a "meant for VAX" feel > to their documentation, IMO, but they do work fine in an -11. > > If you can, I'd recommend getting a DELQA instead of a DEQNA. > The DELQA is backwards-compatible with the DEQNA and is a lot > more reliable (mostly due to lower power dissipation). I'm > given to understand it takes a lot of load off the CPU as well. > The DELQA can use the DEQNA cable kit, so no need to worry > about that. Not standard for an '11, so not really of great interest for a start. Allison <ajp166 at verizon.net> wrote: > The DEQNA has the mop boot for PDP11. seems that is a PDP11 thing. > The DELQA deleted that. > > The CPU load this was added around V5.* VMS as they discovered > a DEQNA bug that could corrupt packets in a uVAX system so the > packet has a secondary CRC16 added and does the reverse on > the other side to check the data and thats all in software (real pita). So basically DEQNA (if anything) for an '11, DELQA for a (?)VAX. > The CMD SCSI card is the way to go. Nah...SCSI is for Microcomputers, ain't it? ;^) > Get another... ;) If anything, I'd go for the radiator style (BA23) microPDP now, that's the package I don't have yet. Damn, you made me want one... Arno

13 years, 2 months

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Computer ASCII Text Art from the 1970's

by mcquiggi＠sfu.ca

I still have a S/360 load module card deck for the 6-foot "Moon" ASCII art picture. I saw it in my basement a few years ago. I have a gothic letters banner producer card deck too. I have Hercules running, so the module could be resurrected. Anyone have a card reader? I have been looking for a CR11 or CM11 for over 10 years now. Kevin Message: 8 Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:49:56 -0400 From: David Gesswein <djg at pdp8online.com> To: cctech at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Computer ASCII Text Art from the 1970's Message-ID: <20130412124956.GA22671 at hugin2.pdp8online.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 8:52 AM, John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> wrote: > >> I'd love to find the original data behind the Mona Lisa that >> was produced by CDC that was exhibited at VCF 2.0. >> >> <http://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/images/monaCHC.jpg> >> http://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/images/monaCHC.jpg >> I have a monalisa in these ascii art files. Its a two printout wide overstrike. No idea if it is the same one.

13 years, 2 months

2
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10 worst computers of all time

by jecel＠merlintec.com

To complement the thread "The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register", we have > http://www.chassis-plans.com/blog/2013/04/04/the-worst-computers-of-all-tim… Any such list is necessarily very subjective, but I can think of lots of machines that were worse than the ones indicated here. And not all of them would be consumer computers either - just because you paid a lot for something didn't mean it would be good. Still, I liked the presentation. -- Jecel

13 years, 2 months

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DEC serial Number identification

by abacos_98＠yahoo.com

Would like so help identifying the serial number on the VAX 11/780 I just acquired. The Model is 11780-FE not sure what the FE means. The serial is FX03307. I am assuming the FX would mean Foxboro MA ? 0 would be 1980. 33 would be august and 07 would be the 7th one made that year? Went with the logic tube manufacturers used to use.

13 years, 2 months

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LCIII Recap - Apple design fault -47uF reversed!

by charles＠uniwho.com

Hey can anyone shed some light on this topic? LCIII Recap - Apple design fault -47uF reversed! http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=20936 On Apr 11, 2013, at 10:34 AM, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Send cctalk mailing list submissions to > cctalk at classiccmp.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > cctalk-request at classiccmp.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > cctalk-owner at classiccmp.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of cctalk digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: 10 worst computers of all time (Tony Duell) > 2. Re: What is the correct material to use.. (Tony Duell) > 3. Re: pdp-11/23 config (allison) > 4. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Ethan Dicks) > 5. Re: What is the correct material to use.. (Tothwolf) > 6. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register (ben) > 7. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Cory Smelosky) > 8. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Dave McGuire) > 9. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Cory Smelosky) > 10. Re: H780 power supply (Mouse) > 11. Re: Huge Lot of Vintage Computers- Local Pick up preferred in > Flushing Michigan (David Riley) > 12. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Ian King) > 13. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Ian King) > 14. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Ian King) > 15. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Ian King) > 16. Re: Huge Lot of Vintage Computers- Local Pick up preferred in > Flushing Michigan (Matthew D Stock) > 17. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Cory Smelosky) > 18. Re: H780 power supply (David Riley) > 19. Re: Huge Lot of Vintage Computers- Local Pick up preferred in > Flushing Michigan (Toby Thain) > 20. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Liam Proven) > 21. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (David Griffith) > 22. Re: looking for Daisy Wheel Printer (Tom Sparks) > 23. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Cory Smelosky) > 24. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (David Griffith) > 25. Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > (Cory Smelosky) > 26. Re: Re: Tech is the biggest problem facing archiving (John Foust) > 27. Re: What is the correct material to use.. (Geoffrey Oltmans) > 28. Re: Computer ASCII Text Art from the 1970's (John Foust) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:15:05 +0100 (BST) > From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: 10 worst computers of all time > Message-ID: <m1UQ2MJ-000J4fC at p850ug1> > Content-Type: text/plain > >>> TI 99/4a. Cliff Click gave up in disgust trying to program this >>> thing. nuf said. >> >> You do have a point. Interesting architecture & so on, but... >> registers in external DRAM? Really? > > IIRC, the worst feature wa that (in the base configuration) there was > almsot no RAM (if any at all) on the processor bus. Yor BASIC program ws > stored in spare locations of the video RAM. This meant that (a) readign > the BASIC program to execute it was ridiculously slow and (b) you > couldn't program it in machine code (since the RAM was not on the > processor bus). ARGH! > > > I think I Would put the VAX 11/730 on the list of 'daftest hardware > designs'. even though I like the machine overall. The processor microcode > is stored in DRAM. No I am not joking. This means that the procesosr has > to be haled every few ms while the control store RAM is refreshed. Every > other machine I've see with a writeable control store (that is, the > microcode is in RAM not ROM) has ued static RAM for this, for obvious > reasons. > > -tony > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:04:47 +0100 (BST) > From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: What is the correct material to use.. > Message-ID: <m1UQ38P-000J4kC at p850ug1> > Content-Type: text/plain > >> >> I'm in the process of restoring some original Macs (a 128 and 512) with a >> friend and we have come across an issue with a floppy drive that is >> strictly mechanical, and am wondering what others have done. >> >> On the original 400K floppies there is a pin on the side that moves up and >> down as the floppy goes in, and is ejected which in some sense locks the >> floppy in either position. On one of these drives, the pivot point where >> this pin connects to the rest of the mechanism isn't as "free" as it should >> be, and initially caused the drive to be either stuck in the open or closed >> position. We've cleaned around the pin (Q-tips and isopropyl alcohol) and >> then lubricated it with some WD-40 (using Q-tip as well) as a start. This > > N omatter waht is says o nthe can, Wanton Destruciton 40 is nto a > usitable lubricant for small mechanisms. In fact this might be what is > gummign things up > > On similar SOny drive,s I take them apart as far as possible and creally > clean the parts with propan-2-ol. Keep on workign them back and forth to > get the gunged-up grease out. > > Normally they will work properly with no lubricant at all. And wear on > osemthing like an eject mechansim should be minimal. > > -tony > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:42:40 -0400 > From: allison <ajp166 at verizon.net> > To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: pdp-11/23 config > Message-ID: <5165EAE0.4000005 at verizon.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > On 04/10/2013 11:42 AM, Jerome H. Fine wrote: >>> Arno Kletzander wrote: >> >>> OK, seems we mixed up logically and physically large drives here. >>> I have about none of the first, but several of the latter category >>> amongst those in question for the machines we're discussing here: >>> 1(2)x RD53 5,25" MFM >>> >>> >> Please be aware that most (maybe now almost all) RD53 >> drives have failed with the head stuck problem. If you have >> an RD53 which can still be read, it is strongly suggested that >> you copy the contents to a more reliable drive. It is possible >> to open and remove the sticky mess without a clean room, >> but read the notes over the past 5 or 10 years which describe >> how it should be done. I would agree to use an RD53 as a >> scratch drive for temporary storage, but not for saving files >> after the drive is powered down. If anyone has any MTBF >> stats after the sticky mess has been removed in terms of >> how many hours of actually using the drive, that would be >> helpful. >> > I have one I did that on back in the late 80s and it still runs. > I's gotten at least three years solid power on time in a PC > and after retirement there Its in a current PDP11 and still > runs at least 30 hours a year. > > I have a bunch I've done that to. A few have failed due to > controller board issues (saved as media spares) and one > the media is physically good but the controller borked > and wrote all over the servo tracks. No reformat possible > for the servo information. > > It was a very good drive save for the gummy rubber bumper > in the head assembly. > >>> 1x 300MB 5,25" ESDI, >>> >>> >> I have a number of Micropolis ESDI and Hitachi ESDI >> drives which seem to be quite reliable. Most are the >> Hitachi DK-515 ESDI 5 1/4" 600 MB drives. They >> are used with a PDP-11/83 system with their own >> PC type power supply and fan since I doubt that using >> the internal power supply from the BA123 is helpful. >> > The Hitachi were among the best. > > The Quantum D540s were also near bullet proof. > > >> Those Hitachi drives arrived 4 in a box with that PC >> type power supply in the first place which emulated >> one of the VAX type of drives which DEC supported. >> Since the ESDI drives were exactly what I wanted for >> the PDP-11/83 and the DEC reseller had no demand >> for these drives from VAX users, the price and usage >> was perfect for the PDP-11/83 with an MSCP EDSI >> controller. Normally, I used 3 * 600 MB drives which >> were usually all identical with drive 0 being the production >> drive and drives 1 and 2 being backups. >> > Most of the VAXEN (qbus) wanted drive larger than 300mb > as VMS V5 barely fits in 150mb and with users and added > software even 300mb is getting thin. > >>> 3x 5MB 14" RL01, >>> 1x 10MB 14" RL02, >>> >>> >> VERY reasonable for a small RT-11 system, but prone >> to hardware problems (especially filters) in the long run. >> > RL02 was far more reliable and more common. 10MB happens to > be a handy size for PDP11. > >>> (2x 80MB 14" SMD) (I just have a lead on those yet) >>> >>> >> The ESDI drives are more reliable and faster. ESDI controllers >> were also less expensive and more available. >> >>> [TK50 tape subsystem] >>> >> From my point of view, one of the worst backups that >> DEC ever produced. While making a simple copy of >> a large file is reasonable, the lack of a reasonable >> streaming capability makes use of small files or a verify >> of a large file extremely difficult. On the other hand, >> the TK70 is a good, fast, reliable drive which I used >> for many years as my primary backup until I found >> some Sony SMO S-501 magneto optical drives. >> > ;) > I just can't say enough nice things about TK50. > (set user/mode:sarcasm=off) > > But they were the common transfer media and big for its time. > that and I have a small bin full of Compact Tape I media with > stuff on it. Tk70 was the one to have. > > There is also TLZ04 tape. > > > Allison > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:51:46 -0400 > From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: > <CAALmimnHsy2-NKY8Ue5VMTgc8HUY10BjG1fdyX=bEYxGKoGrHQ at mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 6:26 PM, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: >>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? > > Tasha Yar and Data? > > -ethan > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:09:27 -0500 (CDT) > From: Tothwolf <tothwolf at concentric.net> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: What is the correct material to use.. > Message-ID: > <alpine.DEB.2.00.1304101754230.2498 at brioche.invalid.domain> > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed > > On Wed, 10 Apr 2013, Geoffrey Oltmans wrote: >> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 4:17 PM, Geoffrey Oltmans <oltmansg at gmail.com>wrote: >>> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 3:41 PM, Tothwolf <tothwolf at concentric.net> wrote: >>> >>>> As others have pointed out, WD40 isn't a replacement for grease or >>>> oil. It works great as a water displacement, such as for driving the >>>> water out of parts that have been rinsed in water after cleaning with >>>> a detergent based degreaser. A large percentage of WD40's ingredients >>>> is a light solvent, and the small amount of oil it contains tend to >>>> gum up later if not removed/supplemented by a better oil. OTOH, I do >>>> not recommend the use of "3-in-1" oil for anything other than possibly >>>> a door hinge. Because it is vegetable based and not petroleum based, >>>> it too will gum up later. >>> >>> Ah, good to know on the 3-in-1 stuff. Like I said before, I tend to use >>> that or the lithium grease depending on which is more readily available >>> at the moment. >> >> Wait... I take that back... according to the MSDS, 3-in-1 is petroleum >> based. >> >> http://www.lakeland.edu/AboutUs/MSDS/PDFs/445/3-in-1%20Oil%20%28Doyle%20Mid… > > Interesting. I wonder if they've changed the formula over the years? I was > taught that it was vegetable based, however the high percentage of Heavy > Naphthenic Oil /does/ help explain why it tends to gum up, since the > lighter hydrocarbons are going to evaporate, leaving the heavier stuff > (paraffin) behind. > > I think I'll stick with something like Boeshield T-9 if I need something > with a high paraffin content though. > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 6 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:35:01 -0600 > From: ben <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: <5165F725.3040804 at jetnet.ab.ca> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > On 4/10/2013 4:51 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 6:26 PM, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: >>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >> >> Tasha Yar and Data? >> >> -ethan >> >> > > Give Data a break, Tasha Yar was the most computer like one. > Ben. > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 7 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:36:33 -0000 > From: "Cory Smelosky" <b4 at gewt.net> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: <5165F781.8090203 at gewt.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > > On 04/10/2013 06:51 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >> >> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 6:26 PM, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: >>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >> >> Tasha Yar and Data? >> >> -ethan >> > > Well...at least it's not the Borg queen... > > -- > Cory Smelosky > http://gewt.net Personal stuff > http://gimme-sympathy.org Experiments > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 8 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:37:07 -0400 > From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: <5165F7A3.90401 at neurotica.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On 04/10/2013 06:51 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >> >> Tasha Yar and Data? > > [cue 1970s porn music] > > "...programmed in multiple techniques..." > > -- > Dave McGuire, AK4HZ > New Kensington, PA > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 9 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:52:50 -0000 > From: "Cory Smelosky" <b4 at gewt.net> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: <5165FB52.3090805 at gewt.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > > On 04/10/2013 07:35 PM, ben wrote: >> >> On 4/10/2013 4:51 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >>> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 6:26 PM, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: >>>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >>> >>> Tasha Yar and Data? >>> >>> -ethan >>> >>> >> >> Give Data a break, Tasha Yar was the most computer like one. > > She was even more computer like than actual computers! > >> Ben. >> > > > -- > Cory Smelosky > http://gewt.net Personal stuff > http://gimme-sympathy.org Experiments > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 10 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:21:32 -0400 (EDT) > From: Mouse <mouse at Rodents-Montreal.ORG> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: H780 power supply > Message-ID: <201304110021.UAA22211 at Sparkle.Rodents-Montreal.ORG> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > >> Probably not that particualr PSU, but I know that some of the smaller >> DEC pSUs used on Qbus systems do not work correctly unloaded. > > It wasn't a DEC PSU, but I once fried a PSU by running it with too > little load. (It was a Sun SPARCstation SLC or ELC, I forget which, > and I was using the PSU without the monitor load it was designed to > always drive - http://www.sunhelp.org/~mouse is a page I wrote up for > sunhelp.org which, among other things, mentions the experience.) > > /~\ The ASCII Mouse > \ / Ribbon Campaign > X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org > / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 11 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:21:49 -0400 > From: David Riley <fraveydank at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Huge Lot of Vintage Computers- Local Pick up preferred in > Flushing Michigan > Message-ID: <C2FDB6FE-EDC8-49E6-8163-1A3E9F5C4F90 at gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > On Apr 10, 2013, at 6:18 PM, Matthew D Stock <stock at csgeeks.org> wrote: > >> Folks, >> >> Beware of this guy - he scammed me out of some money recently when I offered to buy some stuff from him and he didn't ship. His ex-girlfriend (it's her paypal account, it wasn't hacked) ended up refunding me the money out of her pocket. >> >> But don't believe me, just do a web search and you'll see has has quite a history on the Apple mailing lists going back years. If you still choose to buy from him, do it in person and know what you're buying. > > How recently was that? List members have reported recent transactions > with him that went just fine, and he's offering local, in-person > pickup (preferred, even). As always, caveat emptor, but people can > change. > > > - Dave > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 12 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:35:44 +0000 > From: Ian King <IanK at vulcan.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org>, "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" > <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: > <2F25BE3D5F64F342B56139F31854C9B998D8E71B at 505MBX2.corp.vnw.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > On 4/9/13 6:33 PM, "Andrew Hoerter" <amh at POBOX.COM> wrote: > >> On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 3:10 PM, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: >> >>> Honestly, I'm really surprised by the list. I was surprised first by >>> the >>> C-128, and even more surprised by the time I got to #10. I didn't take >>> time >>> to see if they listed criteria for the choices, but I find the machines >>> selected to be odd. I for one would have put a BeBox in the list (and >>> I've >>> never even seen one). I'd have likely also included the G5 PowerMac >>> (and >>> current Mac Pro's) for their case. >> >> Surely the Connection Machine warrants a spot on that list, as well. >> >> -Andy >> >> > > Yes, the Connection Machine just stirs the primal geek instincts - which > journalists do not have. I really see no rationale to their choices. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 13 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:37:06 +0000 > From: Ian King <IanK at vulcan.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: > <2F25BE3D5F64F342B56139F31854C9B998D8E737 at 505MBX2.corp.vnw.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > On 4/9/13 8:14 PM, "mc68010" <mc68010 at gmail.com> wrote: > >> On 4/9/2013 6:04 PM, Liam Proven wrote: >>> On 10 April 2013 01:33, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote: >>>> Other than the obvious triteness of the the question--- >>>> >>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >>> Joke, N entirely SFW: >>> http://www.welookdoyou.com/fufme/ >>> >>> Real: >>> http://www.gizmag.com/lovepalz-iphone-teledildonics-app/24254/ >>> >>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/12/sxsw_teledildonics/ >>> >>> >>> >> >> There is of course always this too http://public.enemy.org/zt_pdp11.jpg >> >> > > A photo too far.... > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 14 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:40:27 +0000 > From: Ian King <IanK at vulcan.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: > <2F25BE3D5F64F342B56139F31854C9B998D8E767 at 505MBX2.corp.vnw.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > On 4/10/13 4:35 PM, "ben" <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote: > >> On 4/10/2013 4:51 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >>> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 6:26 PM, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: >>>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >>> >>> Tasha Yar and Data? >>> >>> -ethan >>> >>> >> >> Give Data a break, Tasha Yar was the most computer like one. >> Ben. >> >> >> > > You're being unkind to every computer that was ever built. Every one. No > insult to the actress, she was just following the thread of execution. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 15 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:44:25 +0000 > From: Ian King <IanK at vulcan.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: > <2F25BE3D5F64F342B56139F31854C9B998D8E78C at 505MBX2.corp.vnw.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > On 4/10/13 4:37 PM, "Dave McGuire" <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote: > >> On 04/10/2013 06:51 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >>>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >>> >>> Tasha Yar and Data? >> >> [cue 1970s porn music] >> >> "...programmed in multiple techniques..." >> >> -- >> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >> New Kensington, PA >> >> > > I always wondered: who would create a *synthetic* life form and programs > it to engage in what is arguably the most fundamentally biological of > interactions? What could be the motivation... eww, I wish I hadn't gone > there. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 16 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:00:05 -0400 > From: Matthew D Stock <stock at csgeeks.org> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Huge Lot of Vintage Computers- Local Pick up preferred in > Flushing Michigan > Message-ID: <51660B15.1070009 at csgeeks.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > On 4/10/2013 8:21 PM, David Riley wrote: >> How recently was that? List members have reported recent transactions >> with him that went just fine, and he's offering local, in-person >> pickup (preferred, even). As always, caveat emptor, but people can >> change. - Dave > > As of last month. Fast correspondence arranging the payment, and USPS > ship code almost immediately. Said he'd drop off the package the next > day. Follow up the following week, said that he missed the shipping > window, and he'd be sending something in a couple of days. Another week > and a half and another followup, and he says he can't ship the > equipment, and then I'll get a refund in the next day or so. Another > few days and another followup, and he says he doesn't have the money in > paypal and will pay me as soon as he sells some other stuff. > > I give the guy up until the limit of the paypal dispute window to > resolve the issue, repeated contacts, and nothing. If others want to > roll the dice with him that's their business, but it looks like he's got > a history of being hit and miss. > -Matt > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 17 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 01:02:07 -0000 > From: "Cory Smelosky" <b4 at gewt.net> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: <51660B8F.9060603 at gewt.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > > On 04/10/2013 08:44 PM, Ian King wrote: >> >> On 4/10/13 4:37 PM, "Dave McGuire" <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote: >> >>> On 04/10/2013 06:51 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >>>>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >>>> >>>> Tasha Yar and Data? >>> >>> [cue 1970s porn music] >>> >>> "...programmed in multiple techniques..." >>> >>> -- >>> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >>> New Kensington, PA >>> >>> >> >> I always wondered: who would create a *synthetic* life form and programs >> it to engage in what is arguably the most fundamentally biological of >> interactions? What could be the motivation... eww, I wish I hadn't gone >> there. > > Either to make things...easier, or to prove a point. ;) > >> >> > > > -- > Cory Smelosky > http://gewt.net Personal stuff > http://gimme-sympathy.org Experiments > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 18 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:27:20 -0400 > From: David Riley <fraveydank at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: H780 power supply > Message-ID: <C69A01F3-C67A-4854-8E32-DD288CE6A246 at gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > On Apr 10, 2013, at 8:21 PM, Mouse <mouse at rodents-montreal.org> wrote: > >>> Probably not that particualr PSU, but I know that some of the smaller >>> DEC pSUs used on Qbus systems do not work correctly unloaded. >> >> It wasn't a DEC PSU, but I once fried a PSU by running it with too >> little load. (It was a Sun SPARCstation SLC or ELC, I forget which, >> and I was using the PSU without the monitor load it was designed to >> always drive - http://www.sunhelp.org/~mouse is a page I wrote up for >> sunhelp.org which, among other things, mentions the experience.) > > Yeah, if you run some of the less intelligent ones with two low a > load, the duty cycle on the switcher shrinks to near zero, which > means lots of sharp pulses up/down next to each other on an > inductor. The end result is not nice. The smarter systems will > just hold off for a period if they detect an insufficient load; > the even smarter ones will switch in a dummy load automatically. > > > - Dave > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 19 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:34:58 -0400 > From: Toby Thain <toby at telegraphics.com.au> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Huge Lot of Vintage Computers- Local Pick up preferred in > Flushing Michigan > Message-ID: <51662152.7040304 at telegraphics.com.au> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > On 10/04/13 8:21 PM, David Riley wrote: >> On Apr 10, 2013, at 6:18 PM, Matthew D Stock<stock at csgeeks.org> wrote: >> >>> Folks, >>> >>> Beware of this guy - he scammed me out of some money recently when I offered to buy some stuff from him and he didn't ship. His ex-girlfriend (it's her paypal account, it wasn't hacked) ended up refunding me the money out of her pocket. >>> >>> But don't believe me, just do a web search and you'll see has has quite a history on the Apple mailing lists going back years. If you still choose to buy from him, do it in person and know what you're buying. >> >> How recently was that? List members have reported recent transactions > > I've bought from Steve before with no issues and I would buy from him again. > > > >> with him that went just fine, and he's offering local, in-person >> pickup (preferred, even). > > Exactly. About as straight a deal as it gets. > > --Toby > >> As always, caveat emptor, but people can >> change. >> >> >> - Dave >> > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 20 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:15:02 +0100 > From: Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: > <CAMTenCEapoDsiPpPfemPOpOG35svtq2HxE9c=ANjjbCU6Tx-pQ at mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > > On 10 April 2013 23:26, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: >>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >> >> Barbarella and the Excessive machine? > > Barbarella and Diktor: > > http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jCh6DqlHTB4/Rkk4QFPvwXI/AAAAAAAAALA/eF7psh7vO14/s… > > -- > Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile > Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven > MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven > Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 21 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:03:39 -0700 (PDT) > From: David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: > <alpine.DEB.2.00.1304102203100.24199 at sleipnir.cs.csubak.edu> > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed > > On Tue, 9 Apr 2013, Chuck Guzis wrote: > >> Other than the obvious triteness of the the question--- >> >> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? > > This guy: > > http://www.schlabonski.de/zwiebeltuete.html > ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/people/m/pix/comp > > -- > David Griffith > dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu > > A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. > Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? > A: Top-posting. > Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail? > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 22 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:04:43 -0700 (PDT) > From: Tom Sparks <tom_a_sparks at yahoo.com.au> > To: "cctalk at classiccmp.org" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: looking for Daisy Wheel Printer > Message-ID: > <1365656683.98307.YahooMailNeo at web142503.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > > >>>> ? I am looking for a daisy wheel printer to buy >>>> >>>> An odd thing to desire.... >>> not really, >> >> Wel, OK, I regater old computer periphearls as being interesting, but far >> too many people think that the CPU is the only bit worth colelcting. >> >>> I already have two pen plotters (Desktop and cutter) >>> I've ordered a dot-matrix printer >> >> s an? aside, I regard injet and laser printers as being dot-matrix... >> > yea, but they are not impact based > > One of those 4-colour pritner/ploters using the Alps mechanism. Everybody >> and his dog sold them at some poitn -- Tandy CGP115, Commodore 1520, >> there was an Atari oen, a Sharp one, theOric printer, etc. >> > my Roland plotter has 8 pens slots (DXY-1300) > the other plotter is a papercraft cutter > > > -tony >> tom > PS:? I am using them for art projects > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 23 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 05:10:18 -0000 > From: "Cory Smelosky" <b4 at gewt.net> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: <B4DC6C45-CD43-4FA5-BE39-2E9B7A59FFC4 at gewt.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > > > > On 11 Apr 2013, at 01:03, "David Griffith" <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote: > >> >> On Tue, 9 Apr 2013, Chuck Guzis wrote: >> >>> Other than the obvious triteness of the the question--- >>> >>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >> >> This guy: >> >> http://www.schlabonski.de/zwiebeltuete.html >> ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/people/m/pix/comp > > ?Do I WANT to click any of those? I highly doubt I do. > >> >> -- >> David Griffith >> dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu >> >> A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. >> Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? >> A: Top-posting. >> Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail? > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 24 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:43:54 -0700 (PDT) > From: David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: > <alpine.DEB.2.00.1304102243180.21085 at sleipnir.cs.csubak.edu> > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed > > On Thu, 11 Apr 2013, Cory Smelosky wrote: > >> On 11 Apr 2013, at 01:03, "David Griffith" <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote: >> >>> On Tue, 9 Apr 2013, Chuck Guzis wrote: >>> >>>> Other than the obvious triteness of the the question--- >>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >>> >>> This guy: >>> >>> http://www.schlabonski.de/zwiebeltuete.html >>> ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/people/m/pix/comp >> >> ?Do I WANT to click any of those? I highly doubt I do. > > That depends... Are you a heterosexual female or a homosexual male? > > -- > David Griffith > dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu > > A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. > Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? > A: Top-posting. > Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail? > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 25 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 05:50:56 -0000 > From: "Cory Smelosky" <b4 at gewt.net> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register > Message-ID: <471357C8-8BF8-4F71-AE4D-9982EA63F352 at gewt.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > > > On 11 Apr 2013, at 01:43, "David Griffith" <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote: > >> >> On Thu, 11 Apr 2013, Cory Smelosky wrote: >> >>> On 11 Apr 2013, at 01:03, "David Griffith" <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote: >>> >>>> On Tue, 9 Apr 2013, Chuck Guzis wrote: >>>> >>>>> Other than the obvious triteness of the the question--- >>>>> What kind of warped pervert wants to have sex with a computer? >>>> >>>> This guy: >>>> >>>> http://www.schlabonski.de/zwiebeltuete.html >>>> ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/people/m/pix/comp >>> >>> ?Do I WANT to click any of those? I highly doubt I do. >> >> That depends... Are you a heterosexual female or a homosexual male? > > Neither. So i'll take that as a no. > >> >> -- >> David Griffith >> dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu >> >> A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. >> Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? >> A: Top-posting. >> Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail? > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 26 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:04:19 -0500 > From: John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Re: Tech is the biggest problem facing archiving > Message-ID: <201304111311.r3BDBlCO048989 at mx1.ezwind.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > At 07:58 PM 4/7/2013, Mouse wrote: >>>> By providing virtualisation, VMware is doing for Intel platforms >>>> what VM/370 did onmainframes in the 1970?s. >> >> Is it? How easy is it to run VM-in-VM with VMware? (That's a serious >> question; I have never even looked at it myself. Work has never >> required it, and, like all closed-source software, it's simply not >> under consideration for my home use. Someday I want to learn enough of >> the x86 hypervisor hardware facilities to build a hypervisor of my own, >> but so far opportunity and inclination have not coincided for that.) > > > Yes, you can run VMware within VMware within VMware. People do it > for lab testing to see how a network of VMware hosts will interact > with each other. There's a performance hit, of course, but it works. > > Don't forget to add the complication (a.k.a. feature) that each of > those VMware can have their own virtual networks and virtual switches > within. And what you do within the virtual machines within each layer > is your own business; run whatever emulators within emulators that > you like. > > Also keep in mind that Windows 7 Pro gives you a free downloadable > Virtual PC and a license to a Windows XP Mode, and Windows 8 Pro gives > you Hyper-V. Virtualization is at the fingertips of desktop users. > Functionality that once required a complicated install on its own > PC is now distributed as a several-gig virtual machine that includes > its own operating system. > > To me, this is the way that emulators should be distributed for > learning purposes. I've seen so many emulators that need all sorts > of hand-tweaking of the emulator's configuration that requires > foreknowledge of the typical configurations of the emulated system > in question. The newbie doesn't know two layers of that. Give 'em > a ready-to-go typical experience in an easy download that drops into > VMware Player or Hyper-V. > > ... Now back to your regularly scheduled programming of the latest episode > of "Those Who Do Not Wish To Learn Because They Know It All, Not Being > Taught By Those Who Do Not Wish To Learn How to Teach The Unteachable." > > - John > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 27 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:32:10 -0500 > From: Geoffrey Oltmans <oltmansg at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: What is the correct material to use.. > Message-ID: > <CABVr2PvUa7wxhJJ+uy7yePB-=MjxwqANkSesoCfX+sKga+AGYA at mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 6:09 PM, Tothwolf <tothwolf at concentric.net> wrote: > >> >> Interesting. I wonder if they've changed the formula over the years? I was >> taught that it was vegetable based, however the high percentage of Heavy >> Naphthenic Oil /does/ help explain why it tends to gum up, since the >> lighter hydrocarbons are going to evaporate, leaving the heavier stuff >> (paraffin) behind. >> >> I think I'll stick with something like Boeshield T-9 if I need something >> with a high paraffin content though. >> > > I guess we should bear in mind that the lithium grease that they used on > the drives originally dries out and/or gets contaminated with dust, etc. > and gets gummy over time anyway. :) > > Just so people don't have the wrong impression: I was NOT advocating the > use of WD-40 as a replacement lubricant, but rather an aid in cleaning the > drive. Also as Tony just said, the drives eject mechs will work fine > without it since they will see little wear and most of the greased parts > are just guides rather than bearing surfaces (although they serve that > purpose to a minor degree). > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 28 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:52:02 -0500 > From: John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> > To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Computer ASCII Text Art from the 1970's > Message-ID: <201304111355.r3BDt1lF053674 at mx1.ezwind.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > At 01:24 PM 4/7/2013, craig at solomonson.net wrote: >> I ran across some old computer art from the 1970's while sorting through >> some old boxes in storage. It seems like nearly every computer lab and room >> had a few posters hanging on the wall. > > > I'd love to find the original data behind the Mona Lisa that > was produced by CDC that was exhibited at VCF 2.0. > > <http://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/images/monaCHC.jpg>http://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/images/monaCHC.jpg > > - John > > > > End of cctalk Digest, Vol 116, Issue 32 > ***************************************

13 years, 2 months

3
2
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Houston Computer Museum (fwd)

by jws＠jwsss.com

On 4/12/2013 11:49 AM, Al Kossow wrote: > > also offlist.. > > He's flaked on Jim Stephens, who was storing a bunch of SDS computer > equipment for him in Kansas City as well. > > That reminds me, I should ask to take them off of the list of groups > we forward unwanted donation offers to. I would put in a word on John. He came and got his stuff, at my request because I was possibly going to have to move out of space I was storing his and my stuff in. He is obviously one who is heavy on assets and very short on planning and sustainability. Just a hoarder like me probably with somewhat less in income, since I had to help him with a big Storage Tech pile he got to. He did flake in that we never got access to tapes we wished to digitize before they went down the rabbithole, and he is extremely hard to get in touch with from time to time. However I think he means well. Again my main problem was that I was in a situation where I stored someone elses stuff and if I got run out of the space didn't want to have to move things (about 50 sq ft and heavy) that I didn't own. I do have phone numbers from a year ago and if you persist you may be able to contact him. But I don't have evidence there is a real museum, but rather more likely a bunch of storage units. thanks Jim

13 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

ISO Dynabyte CP/M 2.2

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I picked up a 5505 a while ago, and as I've been going through the docs from San Diego there were a few Dynabyte manuals, which I'm currently uploading to bitsavers. The one thing I haven't found is any media. These seem to be difficult to find, and the 5" ones are going to be tough to image since they are 100tpi. Anyone have any Dynabyte media left?

13 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

What is the correct material to use..

by earl＠baugh.org

I'm in the process of restoring some original Macs (a 128 and 512) with a friend and we have come across an issue with a floppy drive that is strictly mechanical, and am wondering what others have done. On the original 400K floppies there is a pin on the side that moves up and down as the floppy goes in, and is ejected which in some sense locks the floppy in either position. On one of these drives, the pivot point where this pin connects to the rest of the mechanism isn't as "free" as it should be, and initially caused the drive to be either stuck in the open or closed position. We've cleaned around the pin (Q-tips and isopropyl alcohol) and then lubricated it with some WD-40 (using Q-tip as well) as a start. This approach did free it up enough that it moves from "open" without the floppy, but when the motor goes to eject it, the mechanism is still a bit slow to move (which prevents the disk from ejecting by motor alone). Using the good ol' paper-clip shows that that mechanism works fine, though is just a little slow... which tells us that it's still not as free as it should be. We're trying to figure what type of lubricant would have been on this before (or what would be the proper modern replacement) Any thoughts? Thanks. Earl

13 years, 2 months

9
14
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Designing a replacement Alps Plotter drive gear (was Re: looking for Daisy Wheel Printer)

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

> Message: 26 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:49:25 -0400 > From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Designing a replacement Alps Plotter drive gear (was Re: > looking for Daisy Wheel Printer) > Message-ID: > <CAALmimn-amKc8rMuGmaua4hqmR527STr8B30qx_TJMPKSzr_Qg at mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > [snip] > > Mention of the Alps plotter reminds me that we've had various discussions > about all the plotter mechs with broken gears but we've never worked out > the details on fabricating replacement gears. I've learned a lot about > fabrication over the past couple of years, so I wanted to take another stab > at the discussion to fill in the parts I don't (yet) understand... > > So I was looking at this gear generator... > > http://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html > > ... thinking that you can't fabricate a good replacement until you > have the data on what you are replacing. I'd like to try to make > either a flat (DXF) design file or a 3D (STL) design file of a > gear replacement candidate. It's possible that with so few > leaves (teeth) and such a small size (1/8" / 3mm across the > face, 1/20" / 1.27mm shaft) that there will be fiddling for > undercut, etc., but I wanted to at least make *something* > that could be tried for good fit. > > So that web-based tool can make a bitmap image of a > gear given the right data, but my own 2D CAD skills aren't > honed enough to draft up a DXF of a gear. Is there anyone > on the list here who is good with 2D CAD and has time > to make an image of a gear? I'm fine with turning that into > 3D and seeing how things would all turn out. I still have > several broken plotters and would like to get them working > again. > > Cheers, > > -ethan Ethan, I may be able to draw up a gear like this, but like the "gear generator," I'd have to have the correct gear data to know what to draw. I'm willing to try. What specs should I try to draw a gear to? I have access to both 2D & 3D drafting/modeling software (AutoCAD & SolidWorks). Do you intend to use a 3D printer to try to manufacture the gear? I suppose these gears are spur gears with involute gear teeth. What is the pressure angle? What is the total number of teeth? What is the pitch diameter? You said the face width is 1/8-inch and the shaft hole fits a 1.27mm diameter shaft. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear) has all this info and more -- I'm pretty sure that you are interested in only spur gears right now, so you can skim over the other gear-type information on that page. Knowing the gear specs may even allow someone to go to the "small gear" catalogs and maybe even be able to select an "off-the-shelf" gear for each needed gear. It's possible. Let me know, Bob

13 years, 2 months

3
5
0 0

Computer ASCII Text Art from the 1970's

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 09:35 AM 4/12/2013, John Foust wrote: >The Rostenbach site says the original digitized material was at >12 bits of gray, but that he worked with an 8 bit version. I'm sorry - Rostenbach says the original was 9 bits, and that he had a tape with those nine bits stored in twelve bits. - John

13 years, 2 months

1
0
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Designing a replacement Alps Plotter drive gear

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

On Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:29:30 -0400, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote: >>> Mention of the Alps plotter reminds me that we've had various discussions >>> about all the plotter mechs with broken gears but we've never worked out >>> the details... > >> I may be able to draw up a gear like this, but like the "gear >> generator," I'd have to have the correct gear data to know what to >> draw. > > Understandable. If I had more numbers up front, I would have given them. > >> What specs should I try to draw a gear to? I have access to both 2D & >> 3D drafting/modeling software (AutoCAD & SolidWorks). >> Do you intend to use a 3D printer to try to manufacture the gear? > > I do not. I was contemplating trying to laser-cut some out of Delrin sheet, > something I did not have access to the last time this conversation made > its rounds. As before, FDM printers do not have the resolution for such > a tiny part, and other technologies (sintered powder or UV-cured resin) > are likely to be too brittle, especially with such fine features. > I didn't really think so (for the same reasons), but I haven't kept up-to-date with today's additive manufacturing capabilities. >> I suppose these gears are spur gears with involute gear teeth. > > As far as I know that is true. > >> What is the pressure angle? > > I do not know. > >> What is the total number of teeth? >> What is the pitch diameter? > > I do not know without digging out a printer to check. I used to have > 4MP close-up pictures (taken with my gear in 2003 back when > Electronic Goldmine was surplusing the bare Alps printer mechs > for a few dollars) but I don't know exactly where those photos > are at the moment. My best approach right now would be to > drop one on a high-res flatbed scanner (1200 dpi) to get a > reasonable "to scale" picture, but I don't have a gear in front > of me at the moment (I do have them in town). > If you find the photos or make the scans, please send them. If possible, scan the gear next to something with a known scale such as a 6-inch machinist's scale or equal. >> You said the face width is 1/8-inch and the shaft hole fits a 1.27mm >> diameter shaft. > > That's what I've scraped from previous conversations about this > gear. I now own a micrometer so with a gear in hand, I have > a chance of confirming that to better accuracy. > >> Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear) has all this info and >> more -- I'm pretty sure that you are interested in only spur gears >> right now, so you can skim over the other gear-type information on >> that page. > > *nods* > >> Knowing the gear specs may even allow someone to go to the "small >> gear" catalogs and maybe even be able to select an "off-the-shelf" >> gear for each needed gear. It's possible. > > I think we (the cctalk community at the time) looked into that and nobody > had such tiny gears with so few large teeth in their catalog. Sounds like a "non-standard" gear. I can see why you (cctalk) couldn't find one in a catalog. > There were > calls to remove a gear and make castings (most gears are already broken > making that difficult) or using a lathe to make a fresh brass gear, etc. > Someone apparently did take a stab at a homemade brass gear but > declared it too expensive to warrant starting up a small run. Perhaps > hobby CNC has evolved to the point now where one could do a gear > with less labor and make an individually cut gear easily enough to > justify selling it for around $5. Or not. The hobby CNC world seems to have drastically increased in popularity in the last few years. A lot of the (mostly) guys are retired now and *may* be willing to make a small run for a reasonable cost just for the challenge. We'd still have to be able to give them full specs so they can program their machines. I recommend we wait on approaching the hobby CNC community until the gear specs can be determined and you have a go at the prototype with the laser. > > If I have a DXF or EPS of the face of the gear, I can see if the laser > cutter can make an approximation out of Delrin for nearly free (I just > spend a few minutes when I'm already working on a run and as long > as I don't work past the quarter-hour billing tick on the tool, the time > is already paid for by the other job). I'm not positive that this will > work, but the cost is so low that it's worth a stab. Just need the > silhouette to scale and I'm good to go. > > -ethan Go ahead and measure what you can and send me the dimensions & photos/scans. I'll see what I can put into DXF or EPS format for you. Bob

13 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computer ASCII Text Art from the 1970's

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 06:06 PM 4/11/2013, Mike Loewen wrote: > Internet sources state that the "Mona by the Numbers" image was done on a plotter. There is some info and a few links at the bottom of this page: >http://rostenbach.com/mona/mona.htm Yes, that's the one. I hadn't seen digitalmonalisa.com before. It is owned by a Andrew Patros. Does anyone recognize his name and know why he made it? At first I thought he was selling prints. It says "Mona by the Numbers" was reproduced on a "diazo printing machine." In the PDF on the site, it also says "Peterson used his EYE [a flying spot scanner] to scan a 35mm slide of the Mona Lisa, and then, using a specially designed character set, played the scan back onto a 30 inch Cal Comp plotter. The 30 inch monochrome playback sparked a mini collecting frenzy all over the country." The Rostenbach site says the original digitized material was at 12 bits of gray, but that he worked with an 8 bit version. Nelson's "Computer Lib" says each spot was 100 levels, which makes me wonder if he wasn't misconstruing "percents" as levels. So as I understand it, diazo was a copying technology that made copies of the original plotter print. Does that account for the faded orange color of the surviving prints? <http://www.vintchip.com/DOCUMENTS/monanumbers/mona.html>http://www.vintchip.com/DOCUMENTS/monanumbers/mona.html has a nice closeup of the bottom of an original. That site is kept by a Greg Barber. I'd love to get an original. Does anyone recall them ever coming up for sale? Barring that, I'm tempted to recreate it in Illustrator so vector reproductions could be made. - John

13 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computer ASCII Text Art from the 1970's

by craig＠solomonson.net

I ran across some old computer art from the 1970's while sorting through some old boxes in storage. It seems like nearly every computer lab and room had a few posters hanging on the wall. As I recall, Snoopy was probably the most popular subject along with "space stuff." I just had to piece these old posters together and see what I had printed back in 1981. It turns out that at least 2 of them were from the Princeton University Computer Center Clinic and done by Samuel P. Harbison in 1973. The third one of the Golden Gate Bridge is huge (8 ft. wide and 6.5 ft. tall) and no credits were given. Here are some photos of them for those that are interested: Golden Gate Bridge (with a PAA airplane) - 96" x 78": http://www.solomonson.net/computers/GoldenGate.jpg One Giant Leap (man on the moon) - 40" x 33": http://www.solomonson.net/computers/GiantLeap.jpg The Moon - 59" x 55": http://www.solomonson.net/computers/Moon.jpg

13 years, 2 months

10
13
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Designing a replacement Alps Plotter drive gear (was Re: looking for Daisy Wheel Printer)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 4:20 PM, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote: >> One of those 4-colour pritner/ploters using the Alps mechanism. Everybody >> >and his dog sold them at some poitn -- Tandy CGP115, Commodore 1520, >> >there was an Atari oen, a Sharp one, theOric printer, etc. > > But that little Alps unit is somewhat odd, and IMHO deserves a place i na > colleciton of hard copy peripherals. Mention of the Alps plotter reminds me that we've had various discussions about all the plotter mechs with broken gears but we've never worked out the details on fabricating replacement gears. I've learned a lot about fabrication over the past couple of years, so I wanted to take another stab at the discussion to fill in the parts I don't (yet) understand... So I was looking at this gear generator... http://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html ... thinking that you can't fabricate a good replacement until you have the data on what you are replacing. I'd like to try to make either a flat (DXF) design file or a 3D (STL) design file of a gear replacement candidate. It's possible that with so few leaves (teeth) and such a small size (1/8" / 3mm across the face, 1/20" / 1.27mm shaft) that there will be fiddling for undercut, etc., but I wanted to at least make *something* that could be tried for good fit. So that web-based tool can make a bitmap image of a gear given the right data, but my own 2D CAD skills aren't honed enough to draft up a DXF of a gear. Is there anyone on the list here who is good with 2D CAD and has time to make an image of a gear? I'm fine with turning that into 3D and seeing how things would all turn out. I still have several broken plotters and would like to get them working again. Cheers, -ethan

13 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

New Flip Chip PCBs

by dm561＠torfree.net

A couple of folks on the VCForum talking about making new flip chip boards: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?36190-New-flip-chip-…

13 years, 2 months

9
11
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PDP 8 components file for spice

by jws＠jwsss.com

The discussion thread about the flip chips had a discussion about a spice model. there is a file missing and I wonder if anyone knows where it might be found thanks JIm .INCLUDE ../PDP8/PDP8_COMPONENTS.cir

13 years, 2 months

2
2
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Who might want my collections (but not yet!)?

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

Since my father passed away a couple of months ago I have been giving serious thoguth to making a formal wil myself (when my father was around, he would have known who to contact about various things). My first ;'choice' is to give everything to a personal friend who has been on this list. He shares enough of my interests that he will realise what is valuable and what is perhaps not so valuable. But the problem is tha said friend is about the same age as me, and it is not certainn he wil loutlive me. Of course if he passes away long before me, I can producve a new will, but it is worth putting a clause in the one I am currently writing to say what happens if he is not around. Now, as well as my classic computers there's also cmaeras, books, tools, test gear, other electronci stuff, etc. I would rather leave everything to one person/orgnaisation (rather than say 'the classic computers go to <a>, the tools go to <b>, etc) or worse still 'I leave my PDP11/45 system to <foo>', etc. In the latter case if I have, say, swapped my 11/45 for an 11/790 at some point then <foo> gets nothing, even though it was probably my intention that he would get the 11/70. In the former case, there could be disputes as to what category certain things fall into -- is the 'Datacopy 300' (an early digital camera that needs a classic PERQ to run it) a 'classic computer peripheral' or a 'camera', for example. Does anyone have any serious suggestions for an organisation (and yes, I am considering computer museums here, no matyter what I may have said i nthe past) who would be prepared to take the lot and pass on that which was of no use to them to other organisations or enthusiasts? -tony

13 years, 2 months

20
35
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Computer ASCII Text Art from the 1970's

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 12:39 PM 4/11/2013, Sam O'nella wrote: >http://www.vintage.org/exhibit99.html has a better picture of it from the >now CHM. "Better" as in that one is 320 x 240 pixels and mine was 122 x 184? :) - John

13 years, 2 months

3
4
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looking for Daisy Wheel Printer

by tom_a_sparks＠yahoo.com.au

> >>? I am looking for a daisy wheel printer to buy >> > >> > An odd thing to desire.... >> not really, > >Wel, OK, I regater old computer periphearls as being interesting, but far >too many people think that the CPU is the only bit worth colelcting. > >> I already have two pen plotters (Desktop and cutter) >> I've ordered a dot-matrix printer > >s an? aside, I regard injet and laser printers as being dot-matrix... > yea, but they are not impact based One of those 4-colour pritner/ploters using the Alps mechanism. Everybody >and his dog sold them at some poitn -- Tandy CGP115, Commodore 1520, >there was an Atari oen, a Sharp one, theOric printer, etc. > my Roland plotter has 8 pens slots (DXY-1300) the other plotter is a papercraft cutter -tony >tom PS:? I am using them for art projects

13 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

not exactly true vintage...

by sales＠elecplus.com

I have a PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2, each with 1 controller, both tested working. $100 plus shipping takes them both home. Cindy Croxton _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3272 / Virus Database: 3162/6237 - Release Date: 04/10/13

13 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

pdp-11/23 config

by Arno_1983＠gmx.de

allison <ajp166 at verizon.net> wrote: > > On 04/09/2013 12:08 PM, Arno Kletzander wrote: > > I'm not sure what I'd need it for? There is no other system within walking distance that would understand the floppy format natively. > > Any file I/O thus most likely will happen across the Internet (involving a PC anyway), so I hoped I'd be fine with the TU58 emulation software discussed below. > > I use the PC to make floppies (RX50, RX33 and RX23) and my S100 CP/M system will do RX01 transfers. > But, I have multiple Qbus 11s and most all have floppies so portability between them is handy. (or a 50ft serial cable). > >> If anything the floppy is always a must on my systems as all my diags and > >> base RT11 systems are on that media (RX01, RX02, RX50, RX33, RX23). > > Are they also available in TU58 (file) format? > Generally yes. TU58 file format is variable in that the device appears to the system as > a blocked volume like disk (though slower). The transfer between the TU58 and > its host is serial data and the host request block(s) N and not that > much different than IDE or other intelligent disk system that uses a logial block numbering > system. The tu58 does not know nor care what is in the 512 byte block. I've run CP/M from TU58. ok, then TU58 emulation is, as I had hoped, going to float the boat for me, at least until either more machines or media to be read crop up here. > >> A viable uVAX is more than 150mb, (more like 300-500 for V7), > >> a loaded PDP11 is 30MB. Just difference is OS utilization. > > So I guess it all boils down on what one wants to run on it. > > I've got one functional RD53 in it right now, and a second one I hope to revive at some point in the future. > > Thats plenty of space for PDP-11 OSs. Unfortunately I have no sound way to (mechanically) _mount_ and power those tiny little 5,25" disks in the '11 rack, that's why they're staying in the BA123. I forgot the 300MB ESDI disk I got from a listmember together with a Webster Qbus controller, I'll use that one if I ever want to run a large OS on the VSII. > Likely the bad one has the stuck head problem > easy to fix. just upen it up and unstick it. There are more detailed instruction out there. > I'v edone it many times and forget the whole you need a clean room thing, My first > salvage is near 25years old now. I'd not want to try my luck, I'll work on that one once I've got an aquarium type glove box set up. [large drives] > You can till you have to format or defrag it. I keep a stack of sub 1gb > (from 50mb and up) SCSI drives for that reasonas well as a major > heap of MFM drives (St412s 10mb, St225s 20mb and Quantum > D540s 31mb). I just insert them and image copy to them as backup. OK, seems we mixed up logically and physically large drives here. I have about none of the first, but several of the latter category amongst those in question for the machines we're discussing here: 1(2)x RD53 5,25" MFM 1x 300MB 5,25" ESDI, 3x 5MB 14" RL01, 1x 10MB 14" RL02, (2x 80MB 14" SMD) (I just have a lead on those yet) [TK50 tape subsystem] > I meant save it for backups or other large data needs as running diags > off it will be painfully slow. If its bad save it for parts, they are scarce, > usually the controller is fine and the drive is borked. Understood. I'll find out once I have a drive and media for it. > I've also already found out that the memory board I'll be getting is 512k_Bytes_ (256kW) and does _not_ have BBU support. ?? BBU?? Unless you mean BBS7 (Io tends to use that). Battery backup. Feeding it from an alternate 5V source to keep RAM content intact when mains power is off. > One last thing... > > Heat! Qbus 11s produce a bit of that. That means fans must all work, > the location must not be dusty enough to load up the boards and local > temperature not excessively hot. > I fried a 11/23 board while working at the DEC Mill when they had an air > conditioner fail for the office area, when the room hit 96 (36c), cpu > went away, I had plenty of spares. So reliability and room temps are > coupled. Qbus 11s are fairly tolerent of conditions but any you find > are going to be old and may not like additional stress. A hard "CPU dead" damage without any warning? That's bad. Good to know anyway, makes me want to add a system monitoring function (temp and air flow) for emergency shutdown. Maybe something to design a CD slot board for after all ;), at least before I'll run the machine unattended. I also forgot something: I myself wouldn't have thought of putting a NIC (DEQNA or similar) in a pdp-11, probably just for the notion that back in those days, computers were too few and far between to come up with the concept of a Local Area Network. Obviously I was mistaken here, too. Arno

13 years, 2 months

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Tech is the biggest problem facing archiving • The Register

by woyciesjes＠sbcglobal.net

And interesting (and seemingly straight-forward) article about issues we face & discussed: Tech is the biggest problem facing archiving Mountains of unreadable obsolete magnetic tapes! By Chris Mellor http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/03/archive_technology_problem/ -- --- Dave Woyciesjes --- ICQ# 905818 --- AIM - woyciesjes --- CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech - http://certification.comptia.org/ --- HDI Certified Support Center Analyst - http://www.ThinkHDI.com/ Registered Linux user number 464583 "Computers have lots of memory but no imagination." "The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back." - from some guy on the internet.

13 years, 2 months

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FS: Huge Lot of Vintage Computers- Local Pick up preferred in Flushing Michigan

by slandon110＠gmail.com

Due an unexpected loss of my vehicle and to help with moving expenses I must sell off a good chunk of my collection. I cannot accept PayPal, my account was hacked and overdrafted and PayPal refuses to help. Postal Money Order is acceptable, But if you can come out and get machines that would make life quite easy for me. Best reasonable offers accepted The more you buy the cheaper it gets Complete Systems Apple IIGS ROM 01 with Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, 3.5 Drive, 5.25 Drive, 1MB RAM Expansion, 80MB HDD and SCSI Card $200 IBM PC 5150 256K RAM, 40MB Hardcard, Ethernet Card, Sysdyne RGB Monitor, Keyboard and All original boxes $200 Atari ST520FM, Rough Shape but working Comes with TOS 2.0 ROMs not installed 52MB HDD and Mouse included. The 52MB HDD has an ACSI TO SCSI Adapter in it, so you can use SCSI Devices with the Atari $100 Apple II Plus System Monitor /// with matching monitor stand Dual Disk II Drives Saturn 128k RAM Upgrade Card Super Serial Card Microsoft Softcard Z80 Card ThunderClock Plus Clock Card $250 Apple //e system Apple Color Monitor //e Super Serial Card 64k 80 Col Card Apple 5.25 drive $75 Apple //e System Unidisk 3.5 Drive w/ Apple Liron Card DuoDisk 5.25 Drive Apple RGB Card with Color Monitor 100 Apple //e Workstation Card Apple Super Serial Card Microsoft Softcard Z-80 Card CFFA 3000 Card $300 dollars Apple //c machine ROM 0 Machine with Unidisk 3.5 Support Matching Monitor //c UniDisk 3.5 Drive $100 Bell & Howell Apple II Plus Matching 5.25 drive RCA 9inch B&W Monitor Hayes Smartmodem II 300 Baud Super Serial Card Microsoft Softcard Z80 Card $300 dollars All these machines are tested and working and are from my personal collection. Cheap accessories DaynaPort E/Z Serial To Ethernet Adapter for Mac- Puts your Serial based macs online $30 dollars MicroPrint 2, LocalTalk to Ethernet Bridge- Bridges your localtalk based macs to ethernet 50 pin SCSI Hard Drives, Sizes from 40MB to 500MB $10 dollars each, got hundreds of them These are 20 dollar an item machines. 10 Apple Monitor // 4 Apple Monitor /// 32 Cosmetically damaged IIGS Monitors 10 Nice GS Monitors 8 Mac IIcx 2 Mac IIci 3 Mac IIsi 5 Imagewriter I 3 Beige G3 Minitowers 2 G3 Desktops 5 PowerMac 6100s 1 Centris 610 1 Quadra 610 1 PowerMac 7300/180 1 PowerMac 7500/100 2 PowerMac 7100/66 1 Performa 600 1 Macintosh IIVX 4 Original LCs 3 LC 575s 1 SE FDHD 2 SE 800k 5 Mac Pluses 1 Molar Mac

13 years, 2 months

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The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME * The Register

by amh＠POBOX.COM

On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 3:10 PM, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: > Honestly, I'm really surprised by the list. I was surprised first by the > C-128, and even more surprised by the time I got to #10. I didn't take time > to see if they listed criteria for the choices, but I find the machines > selected to be odd. I for one would have put a BeBox in the list (and I've > never even seen one). I'd have likely also included the G5 PowerMac (and > current Mac Pro's) for their case. Surely the Connection Machine warrants a spot on that list, as well. -Andy

13 years, 2 months

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The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME • The Register

by woyciesjes＠sbcglobal.net

Yes, 2 of the computers listed are not on topic (MacBook Air & Playstation 3, which is arguable if it's even a computer); one is barely on topic (Mac Cube). And there is only 1 big computer, the Cray 2. Still an interesting read. But I'm curious as to what others should be on the list? No bickering, we all know everyone has their own opinion... If possible, please include a link to a pic for me to enjoy.... :) The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME Gorgeous kit that looks as good now as it did the day it came out http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/09/feature_ten_sexy_computers_roundup/ -- --- Dave Woyciesjes --- ICQ# 905818 --- AIM - woyciesjes --- CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech - http://certification.comptia.org/ --- HDI Certified Support Center Analyst - http://www.ThinkHDI.com/ Registered Linux user number 464583 "Computers have lots of memory but no imagination." "The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back." - from some guy on the internet.

13 years, 2 months

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looking for Daisy Wheel Printer

by tom_a_sparks＠yahoo.com.au

----- Original Message ----- >> I am looking for a daisy wheel printer to buy > > An odd thing to desire.... not really, I already have two pen plotters (Desktop and cutter) I've ordered a dot-matrix printer > >> >> I know I need one with a parallel/ Centronics port >> but what else should I get? > > There were quite a few models with RS232 interfaces (including some 'KSR@ > models with keyboards, effectively printing terminals). I would suggest > that if the model you want turns up with an RS232 prt ratehr than a > Centronics port, you grab it and eitehr link it to a serial port on your > host or get a parallel-serial converter. I suspect those are lot easier > to find than a partivular model of daisywheel printer. thanks for the info > > The famous models were the Diablo 630 and the Qume Sprint 5. Both are > prett soild. <snip> > > If possible get some spare Daisywheels and ribbons. The formerare > certainly not easy to get now, the latter may be getting rarer. ok, the supplies could issue :( I dont really need a daisywheel printer, but something like currently on ebay are trash-80/Atari daisywheel printers :( > > -tony --- tom_a_sparks "It's a nerdy thing I like to do" Child of the Internet born 1983 PGP ID: A7EF6006 Please use ISO approved file formats excluding Office Open XML - http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html Ubuntu wiki page https://wiki.ubuntu.com/tomsparks

13 years, 2 months

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H780 power supply

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

> Message: 9 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 03:46:39 -0700 (PDT) > From: Brian Roth <abacos_98 at yahoo.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: H780 power supply > Message-ID: > <1365590799.18092.YahooMailNeo at web141406.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > Thanks Dave, > > ?? I checked first with a load and then without. I have the main board out of it now so I was going to replace the transistors and caps. The problem is the schematics on Bitsavers is just a little blurry so I cannot make out the names and the transistors themselves(a few of them) are unreadable. > > Brian. Brian, I have a 174-page ~15.8MB PDF entitled ""1103_Schematics.pdf" that appears to be clear enough to read the H780 power supply pages (parts of the pages are blurry, but most areas seem to be readable). The PS schematics are drawing number D-CS-5411776-0-1, Rev. M, dated 7-22-77, and are three pages. I'll go ahead and send them to you (~154KB). Or I could email the whole 174-page file. Bob

13 years, 2 months

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Automated Paper Tape Punch on Ebay

by technobug＠comcast.net

<Blatant plug for a local scrapper> I was going through Southwest Liquidators back rooms and found an automated paper tape punch on a rack slated for recycling. I talked him into listing it (EPay 370793458493). The beast works. You punch in the code desired and hit perforate. The desired, lighted, programming buttons lock down (most of the bulbs are out) and release when the perforate button is hit. The power cord is new - definitely not original. The tops of the programming buttons are missing their legends? Sweet toy for anyone using paper tape. ->CRC

13 years, 2 months

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H780 power supply

by elson＠pico-systems.com

> Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2013 17:04:30 -0700 (PDT) > From: Brian Roth <abacos_98 at yahoo.com> > To: ClassicCmp <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: H780 power supply > Message-ID: > <1365552270.75693.YahooMailNeo at web141403.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Started tearing into the 11/780 and pulled the 11/03 and the RX01 out to clean and test. Looks like the PS is bad in the 11/03. It powers on and the fans run because they are AC but I am getting sometimes 4.5 volts on the 5v line and 0 volts on the 12v. I have 34 volts coming out of the diode rectifier. I suspect switching transistors. > First, if it has Molex/AMP Mate-n-Lock connectors, check them for bad contact. DEC loved these during the PDP-11 era, and I had a constant battle with our used 11/44 to keep it running. The contacts would develop an oxide film, run hot and eventually burn up the contacts, connectors, wire, etc. Especially with fluctuating output, that soulds very much like poor contacts. I never tore the LSI-11 apart on a 780, so I don't know what the PS looked like, but I would bet there are some of those AMP connectors in it with the crummy tin plating. Jon

13 years, 2 months

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Grid Compass I or II CCOS ROMs?

by dave13＠dunfield.com

>>> I know I've asked about this in the past, butI figured I'd try again: >>> Anyone have any idea where to track down ROMs for the Grid Compass I or >>> II (1101 / 1129)? I accidentally formatted my 1129's internal bubble >>> memory tonight (while intending to format an external floppy) and now of >>> course it won't boot. (Doesn't seem to want to try booting from the >>> floppy drive either, unless there's a magical keysequence...) >> According to the manual: >> >> "To load the operating system from Floppy Disk or Portable Floppy, turn >> on the computer while holding down the F (for Floppy Disk) key. >> >> If both a floppy disk and a portable floppy are attached to your computer >> and you want to start up from the portable floppy, open the door to the >> floppy disk drive before turning on the computer." >> >> You can also use 'H' to force a boot from a hard drive, otherwise it >> boots from configured primary storage which is usually Bubble. > >Excellent -- it looks like I'm up and running again. Thanks! I don't >suppose that manual you're referring to has been scanned? I have yet to >find a copy of the user's manual in any form and it'd be nice to have a >copy... Glad it worked out! Unfortunately the manual that I have is probably not what you are looking for. it is entitled "GRID Management Tools Reference" (1984) and is mainly about the GRID user software. It does have a "System Basics" section which is where I found the information about booting from floppy. This is quite a thick binder - It would take me some time to scan it, and I honestly don't see having the available time to scan all of it in the near future, however I could work away at it slowly... FYI, the sections are named: System Basics GRiDmanager Common Commands GRiDFile Database GRiDPlan Worksheets GRiDPlot Graphics GRiDWrite (Part 1) Text Editing GRiDWrite (Part 2) Text Formatting Error Messages Appendices Glossary Index GRiDVT100/GRiDReformat It also includes original GRiD disks for: GRiD-OS 3.1.0 A GRiD Management Tools 3.1.0 GRiDVT100/GRiDReformat 3.1.5 Images of these disks are already available on my site. Dave -- dave13 (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield System/Firmware development services: www.dunfield.com (dot) com Classic computers: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield

13 years, 2 months

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9-track alignment (skew) tapes for R/W-head adjustment

by elson＠pico-systems.com

Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2013 11:13:42 +0100 From: Colin Eby <colineby at isallthat.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: 9-track alignment (skew) tapes for R/W-head adjustment Message-ID: <B5214C89-7571-4779-B1BC-9DB00FF5B119 at isallthat.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Jon, First, lemme reassert my non-expert status on this. However, my understanding of PE -- phase encoding as a raw signal -- is that a 0 is a low to high transition(Thomas or reversed high to low for IEEE) against a fixed clock time. Successive 0s have to be encoded taking the sign low to high, before going high to low again. The system is to ignore those signals and simply count the transition at the mid-point of the period. Setting the blocking aside, doesn't that mean you end up with two transitions in a period for every zero. And if you write zero to every channel you get a nice sine wave at the pre-amp, with the parity bit being the inverse signal (all ones). NZRI would of course be rather different. But for PE, this is my understand of the signal inside a block. I believe that's the signal form you were thinking of. OH, you meant to write the tape in 1600 BPI (PE) mode! yes, that would put 3200 transitions per inch on all data channels, but the parity channel would have its transitions out of phase with the data channels. PE mode will write two transitions for every bit time when the same bit (1 or zero) is written, but for alternating 1's and zeros, you only get one transition per bit time. The polarity of the transition at the center of the bit time contains the data bit, and additional transition needs to be added when the same data bit follows. See Page 4-11 of this doc for a picture : <ftp://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digidata/0551711_1140-1640-1740_2-79.pdf> Generally, skew is not worried about so much in PE mode, the drives have FIFOs to resync the data. But, of course after repairing the head mounting, it could be WAY off, too far for the FIFO to correct. They usually only have 9 bit times worth of skew correction. Anyway, most older 800 BPI drives have circuitry built-in to assist in skew adjustment, an analog summing circuit that adds the output of the 9 bit detectors together. The stepped square wave is very easy to interpret and adjust on a scope. I've never done skew adjustment on 1600 or 6250, I think it would be harder than on 800 BPI. I think the best bet is a digital or storage scope, looking at data channels 4 and 5 (the outermost ones on the tape) on two scope channels, and triggering so the first transitions of a block are seen. The preamble is 40 bytes of all zeros, then one 1, followed by the data. Jon

13 years, 2 months

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Plastic Repair

by cool1＠thecoolbears.org

Call me odd, but my absolute, top favorite computer is my MicroVAX in a BA123 chassis. If the house were burning, that would be the one computer I would try to retrieve. Sadly, last night, the daughter snapped the corner off the louvers on the top left of the chassis. Unless some kind sole has a replacement part, I plan on gluing the pieces back on. My question is, cyanoacrylate or epoxy?

13 years, 2 months

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pdp-11/23 config

by Arno_1983＠gmx.de

allison <ajp166 at verizon.net> wrote: [RX02 or RX50] > > Mass storage for my system is another area I need to spend more thought on, for now I was planning to stay with the RL drives I got with the case. > > > In the PDP11 world its easy to build a system that forgets portable IO. > A reminder PDP-11 as not a PC and even a 256kb floppy is viable storage > as RT11 fits on it. I'm not sure what I'd need it for? There is no other system within walking distance that would understand the floppy format natively. Any file I/O thus most likely will happen across the Internet (involving a PC anyway), so I hoped I'd be fine with the TU58 emulation software discussed below. >> RL packs were over 160$ new (...) > cables, terminators and those annoying and scarce drive ID plugs. Terminator: check. ID plugs 0 and 1: check. Cables: no check yet but inbound. > If anything the floppy is always a must on my systems as all my diags and > base RT11 systems are on that media (RX01, RX02, RX50, RX33, RX23). Are they also available in TU58 (file) format? > A viable uVAX is more than 150mb, (more like 300-500 for V7), > a loaded PDP11 is 30MB. Just difference is OS utilization. So I guess it all boils down on what one wants to run on it. I've got one functional RD53 in it right now, and a second one I hope to revive at some point in the future. > I would not covet a large drive unless you had the application that > required it. I thought that we here run large drives just for the kicks of it?! > > I do have a TQK(mumble) board already (which was originally also intended for the VSII), but no drive yet. > Save it as loading diags from TK50 is both slow and painful assuming the system can boot a tK50 (not guaranteed). ?? (not understanding the above). I should save the controller because the whole subsystem is bad? [core] > The older LSI11 systems had it if there was a call for non volatile > memory, the cost was high. > I happen to have 16KW of qbus core. Also core had a far slower cycle > time than Ram of > the day. Core that ran at 1.5us was fast where ram on the day was > under 1us and dropping. So thus probably not very prevalent and not easy to find nowadays. Ho hum. I've also already found out that the memory board I'll be getting is 512k_Bytes_ (256kW) and does _not_ have BBU support. [OS question] > Start with RT11 as a base os and it will allow you to test and get comfortable at lower > cost to learn. It will be transferable knowledge to RSTS or RSX, may help with getting Unix > on the machine. Agreed, sounds like a good starting point. So long, Arno

13 years, 2 months

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System 36 SSP 5.25" Media

by colineby＠isallthat.com

All, Every couple of years I throw this one out there. Would anyone have a copy of the media for an IBM System/36 5363 -- that the second version of the 5.25" distribution. I'd love to get my hands on a copy if anyone has such a thing, either physically or as an image set. -Colin

13 years, 2 months

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Identifications sought :¬)

by lproven＠gmail.com

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/04/gates_allen_reshoot_photo/ ? One of the most iconic photos from the history of Microsoft, featuring a lanky young Bill Gates perched next to his coding mentor (the way he tells it) Paul Allen, has been recreated at Seattle's Living Computing Museum. [...] Among the systems still surrounding them are an Apple II with twin drives and an ancient monitor in the top left of the picture, with a Commodore Pet below Bill Gates. Readers who can identify the other systems, please let us know in Comments. ? -- Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884

13 years, 2 months

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PCjr Telnet Server Test

by mbbrutman-cctalk＠brutman.com

It's running! Telnet to 97.86.233.68 to take a look and help me test it. You can use the standard Windows telnet program, Putty, Linux, or whatever you have handy. Around 10 users can be on at the same time. When you sign on (no password required) there will be a little menu to help you waste some time. Some things you can do are see who else is on the server, view the machine type, ROM BIOS date and DOS version, check the TCP/IP statistics to see how much traffic it is handling, etc. There are some upgrades since the last time I ran this test (in Dec 2007): - The TCP/IP stack is much better - I'm doing 'telnet' negotiation to figure out the terminal type, turn echoing on, etc - Crude line editing has been added Right now it is running on my PCjr using a Xircom PE3 10BT. I plan to leave it up as long as it runs, or three days, whichever comes first. It is a PCjr so if there is a momentary delay, don't panic - it's probably just doing disk I/O. Backspace is a little dodgy .. it really wants ASCII 8 and a lot of terminals and emulators do ASCII 127 instead. Try variations with the shift and control keys if it doesn't work. Thanks, Mike

13 years, 2 months

25
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finding things on the internet

by sales＠elecplus.com

Some things are easy to Google, and you get reasonably appropriate results. Other things give you whacky results! Google HP 700/96, and you get decent results. Google apple, and the first 20 items relate to Apple computers or Apple Corp., not to eating apples. Google Commodore, and surprisingly, the first line is not Commodore computer related. (Interestingly, it seems a company has bought the rights to the Commodore and Amiga names, and will be re-inventing the C64 with nVidia graphics inside) Google wolf cub, and you get everything from animals to Scouting to music to golf clubs! Seems like they need to tweak their algorithms again? _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3267 / Virus Database: 3162/6224 - Release Date: 04/04/13

13 years, 2 months

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TSZ07 PSU P/N 29-28461-01 Schematics?

by holm＠freibergnet.de

Hi there, has someone a technical documentation for the PSU of the TSZ07 9 Track tape drive? My PSU is working but some parts are overheating when the drive is in standby mode where no FAN is running. In the technical manual for the TSZ07 from manx for example are no details, only the replacement procedure is described. .. or has anyone one to sell for small money (prefered in europe because of the shipping costs..) There are shopts that want to sell HP/Compaq/DEC 29-28461-01 fpr $200 and more... thats to much. Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Freiberger Stra?e 42, 09600 Obersch?na, USt-Id: DE253710583 www.tsht.de, info at tsht.de, Fax +49 3731 74200, Mobil: 0172 8790 741

13 years, 2 months

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pdp-11/23 config (was: Re: Qbus identification)

by Arno_1983＠gmx.de

Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote: > > Was it indeed usual to build such large configurations based on an 11/23 back then? > > That was not a small configuration, but it wasn't uncommon. > > [data points for system configurations from Ethan and Allison] allison <ajp166 at verizon.net> wrote: > Not at all uncommon. Usually the disk round out might have left out the > RQDX or the RX02 > but many in the day wanted to move from 8" to 5.25 for space and needed > one system to do both. OK, some more enlightenment absorbed. > You will want RX50 or RX02 as those were and are common media. > Either way a RX02 or RX50 was the common simple and cheap storage > that offered portability. Mass storage for my system is another area I need to spend more thought on, for now I was planning to stay with the RL drives I got with the case. > RL packs were over 160$ new and didn't like to > be bounced. FYI drives like RL02 were nearly as expensive as the base > machine ($8-12K). The drives are not the problem, I have those. I will need to check them out and get myself some more packs though. On second thought, some kind of floppy might be nice, too, but that is not a must now. If pressed for more mass storage, I could always put my QBus SMD controller (and a CMD Phoenix fixed/removable drive combination I was recently offered )to use with this machine, although I had got those rather imagined using them with my VSII/GPX. > Its easier to find Dias on RX50 or RX02 though I've seen them on TK50 > but hated loading them form that (slow!). I do have a TQK(mumble) board already (which was originally also intended for the VSII), but no drive yet. > > TQK50, DEQNA and RQDX3 at least sound sound a bit anachronistic > > to me, there surely must have been newer and more powerful > > processors out at the time those became available? > There were - you could get a MicroPDP-11 with a KDJ11, and lots > of people did, but they cost more. I wouldn't have wanted to run > an RSX-11/M+ system on a KDF11, but I did see plenty of them on > KDJ11 processors (but even more on Unibus machines). > > TK50 was tape DLT tape. DEQNA was ethernet, and RQDX3 was > MSCP floppy and hard disk controller. > > CPU typically was 11/23+ or 11/73 later on for a price. So the distinction between the rackmount and MicroPDP/VAX eras wasn't as sharp as I imagined it. I have such boards (ok, a DELQA in this case) in said VSII. > > I think I'll have a rather minimal system (KDF11-B, 512kW RAM, > > quad SLU, RLV12 + one or drives) for now, not making my first > > foray into pdp technology more complicated than necessary. > > I would call that a mid-range Q-bus PDP-11 myself, not "minimal". > Among other characteristics, I personally think of Q22 as "not minimal". > You can do a lot with RT-11 in 18 bits of memory. My fault, I should have been more specific and included: "in terms of features/peripherals/board count". Also, I was thinking relative to all 11s, not just QBUS. > The fact that it had 4MB of ram was uncommon as back in the day that was > as costly as the base machine if not more. I understand that memory was at a premium back then. Out of interest, how common was core memory (H223 and similar) in QBUS systems? Is BBU supported for the MOS memory options? > > I would call that a mid-range Q-bus PDP-11 myself, not "minimal". > > (...) > > Among other characteristics, I personally think of Q22 as "not minimal". > > You can do a lot with RT-11 in 18 bits of memory. > > Yes, you can even in 16bits. I also have a tiny system using M8186 in a > 12 slot dual wide cage running 512KB ram (4 boards), MRV11 (boot), > DLV11J for serial IO, and TU58 for storage. It boots the TU and copies > it to VM: and reboots from there making for a small but very fast > RT-11 system. The OS only use the 28KW and the rest is a virtual > disk (ram disk) big enough to copy the whole base os and a few > useful apps. What OS to use is yet another undecided question, I haven't even read up on the options. I could also just try out some bare metal programming at the ODT for a start. > I think you meant 150MB for RQDXm for its upper limit. For larger > there were large disks but that was uncommon for Qbus 11s. > RT11 could barely fill (the whole mess) a 20mb drie with much room > left over. For RSTS or RSX a 31mb (RD52) was enough and two > did the trick. So with just 1-2 RL0x drives, I'm pretty much stuck with RT-11? I've read that it has a lot in common with later DOS, so that might not even be a bad thing after all :) > larger systems often had mag tape either DLT (tk50) > or 9track for backup and sneakernet (off site or remote systems > before WAN). No such stuff in sight alas, but ISTR there is some sort of emulator software that makes a PC act as a serially-attached tape device? > When I was using the BA11N system I described, I owned an RL01 > because I couldn't afford an RL02. > > FWIW, I was messing with this system just last month. It's still intact. Nice to hear that. How problematic are the BA11-N power supplies, BTW? > > The system I still use is the tall (50") rack BA-11 CPU I used in my office > > when I was in the Mill (ML03-6/B5) as a utility system for printing and > > off line (non VAX work). Still fun to use and I even have a few > > uVAX3100s running VMS for it to talk to. > > Cool. Seconded :) Arno

13 years, 2 months

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Cross country hauling - an update

by wdonzelli＠gmail.com

Thanks to all so far that have expressed interest in me hauling their computer goodies across the country. As I think most of the interested parties know, my roadtrip has been delayed until June. I am resetting all the deals, as things were just not gelling properly. Anyway, many of you have already been contacted, and may be contacted again, to get the deals restarted, and to finalize the whole roadtrip. I am sorry that I could not do all the hauling requested - not enough space in the van. One thing - for any deal, I need to know exactly who I am dealing with, with *full* contact information. If someone has a deal piggybacking on another deal that I am hauling, I absolutely need to know about it. Basically, I need to know everything. Please keep in mind that I keep all of this information very discrete, and in fact, am under NDAs with some customers. No blabbermouthing from me. -- Will

13 years, 2 months

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test-drb